NIU Picks Up First Win in 38-10 Victory over EIU

Daniel Santacaterina threw for 252 yards and three touchdowns to lead Northern Illinois to a 38-10 win over Eastern Illinois on Saturday.

Marcus Jones ran in two more scores, both set up by first-half interceptions, as Northern Illinois (1-1) dominated on defense, holding its in-state FCS rival to just 60 yards rushing and 187 overall.

Santacaterina finished 23 of 34 with one interception. He connected with Spencer Tears on a 39-yard touchdown throw for the first points of the game and later found Christian Blake for an 18-yard TD pass and then Shane Wimann on a 1-yard scoring toss.

Eastern Illinois (1-1) got a short field goal from Nick Wilson in the first quarter and a touchdown from Sotty Gilkey Jr. on a 1-yard run midway through the fourth.

Two key Panther drives in the first half were halted by interceptions that the Huskies quickly turned into points. Mycial Allen picked off EIU's Mitch Kimble and returned it 17 yards to the Eastern Illinois 11 at the end of the first and Mykelti Williams intercepted a Kimble pass late in the second, returning it 10 yards to EIU 30.